On the fourth day of Christmas, Bijou bestowed on me . . .

. . . a "what-knot" for my Christmas tree. 

CHOOSE YOUR TANGLES
This is a somewhat odd Bijouism. N'est-ce pas?

What does this mean, "Choose your tangles"? Well, this is where we really get to be creative in our Zentangle endeavors. Other than when you are joining a challenge, as some of us joyfully do . . . when it comes to choosing which tangle to draw, you get to choose! Choose a new one, pick one at random, draw the same one(s) over and over, or change a familiar tangle – tweak it, adjust it, modify it – alter, change, adapt, refine, aura, or perf-orate it! You get to decide. No one to whine about your choice, give you grief about it, tell your mother about it, or tell you that you should have chosen something else!

So, it's a little thing, but it belongs to you. Only you. Not many things in this world where we can choose whatever we want, with no uncomfortable consequences to worry about. We say, bravo Bijou! You have shared with us this (albeit tiny) power. A superhero. Yup, that's Bijou.

Molly created this ornament from a Zendala, a Bijou tile, and a Bijouism for your pleasure.

When you finish tangling your Zendala, fold it in half in one direction, open it and fold it in half the other direction . . . keep doing that until you have a "pizza" looking tile with 8 "slices." Make a cut on one slice just to the middle. Glue or tape "pizza slice" #1 on top of "slice" #7 and voila! A hat-like something you (or your cat) might wear at the beach!

Slip your ribbon/cord through a hole in the center, attach the Bijou tile on one side, the Bijouism on the other, add a few trinkets, bells, charms or more tiles – and of course, a tassel to top (or bottom) it all off! (You can create a tiny tassel by fraying the string/cord, or snipping the ribbon.)

-----+-----

Our winning commenters from yesterday's blog, (On the third day of Christmas):

• Teri Young 
• Pat Floerke 
• Shawn Brown 

-----+-----

Please send us your snail mail address to Zentangle [at] gmail [dot] com.

Many thanks for your participation in our Zentangle Journey!

Rick, Maria, Bijou and Molly

On the third day of Christmas, Bijou sent to me . . .

. . . a trinket for my Christmas tree.

NO MISTAKES
This so very important Bijouism is one we should all consider – especially at this time of year. We seem to have less forgiveness for our own missteps. As simple as it sounds, it can be a difficult thing to master.

It takes practice. So maybe start with a Zentangle tile. A Bijou tile. Only teeny, tiny faux pas (as Bijou might say) to start with. Imagine looking at your Zentangle art, as if it were a child's. Think of only the good parts of it and focus (again with the focus) on those parts.

Guide yourself on a path of discovery, find a way to make it a jewel. Like it or not, this Bijouism will follow you into your daily life. There are no mistakes in life. Oh, we hear the reply, "Of course there are mistakes!" But, until the story is finished, who can say for certain that any event will prove to be a mistake at the story's end? At a minimum it is an opportunity to be more gentle with yourself. Then you have a chance to learn something new, an opportunity to do something unplanned, a way to save the day that perhaps you may not have given yourself a chance to consider.

So, have fun with this. It is a gift . . . from Bijou.


SLOW DOWN
This has to be the "Bijou-i-est" Bijouism, for sure! Bijou is the symbol of "slow down," with the turtle a not-so-close second. This simple and amazing creature gets done whatever it needs to get done in its own time.

So, what does Bijou teach us? Get things done in your own time. We are all tempted to drive, walk, talk a bit faster when we are under pressure. We are bombarded with the speed of life. So, let's start our journey with a Zentangle tile and enjoy all its rewards. Our strokes will be what we want. Maybe we take our time to embellish a tangle before moving on to the next. We may decide to follow a more interesting, challenging (instead of safe) path as we move through our tile, our life. All good things which seem just out of reach when we rush.

-----+-----

This "trinket" was created by Julie. With a pencil, she traced the outline of a Bijou tile on a 3.5" tile, drew a larger border around that tracing, and tangled within that frame. After she finished tangling, she cut two slits on opposite sides of the original Bijou tracing and inserted the Bijouism. Once both tiles were done, she double side taped the two together back to back and punched two holes in the top corners and topped it all off with a very lovely ribbon. So simple and a very lovely trinket for any time of year!

-----+-----

And the winning commenters from Day 2 are:

• Mary Tod 
• Roseanne V. Sabol 
• Ginny Styles 

Congrats!

Please send your snail mail address to Zentangle [at] gmail [dot] com and we will send along some treats!

With all the best from,

Rick, Maria, Molly, Bijou . . . and Julie!

On the second day of Christmas, Bijou gifted me . . .

. . . some baubles for my Christmas tree. 

SAVOR
verb: To taste and enjoy completely. 

Maria writes:

How often do we take the time to savor anything? – to really savor?

 
There are so many little things that deserve this attention. With Zentangle art it is especially important to take the time, in the moment to "taste" and enjoy this treat. To savor your tile (to me anyway) means going beyond just the casual acknowledgement of creating. ​It begs us to admit to being an artist – to take pleasure in accepting someone's compliments of our art. It means saying, "Thank you," instead of listing the things that went wrong or could have been better. It means basking in the glory of the moment.

As an artist, one needs to create, savor, then move on to the next project. With Zentangle art, this is so possible just because of the simple fact of the small size of the "canvasses" used. Delight in the easy journey from start to finish; in the use of great tools; in the feeling you have when you are done.

Exhibit your Zentangle art, save it, or frame it and give it away. There's always another tile waiting to be created.


EMBELLISH
verb: To make (something) more attractive or interesting by the addition of decorative details or features. 

To embellish or not to embellish, that is the question. To me, adding those little details and tangles is just plain fun. Once in a blue moon, a tile begs to be simple. But I find such pleasure in adding a few auras or perfs around the perimeter of a tangle.

Like adding lace around a collar or etching patterns in a suit of armor, the act of embellishing has been around forever. It feels good to add your "marks" to your creations; even if your creation is a pattern in itself. I absolutely love to add patterns within my tangles: stripes, knightsbridge, circles . . . it is what Zentangle art is all about.

Never fear. Embellish to your heart's content!


BEAUTIFUL AND BEYOND 

This just says it all. The beauty of Zentangle art is that it is what it is. You don't have to compare it to anything else. It doesn't have to look like anything else. It can be as big or as small as you like it to be. It is an emotional statement. It has Heart.

These 3 ornaments that Molly has put together for us are a mixture of Bijou tiles, Bijou frames, snippets of ribbon, and old orphan or seldom used pieces of jewelry – charms from childhood, old rings that no longer fit, earrings that no longer have a mate. Temporarily attach them or sew them on – no harm comes to any of the "baubles" in the making of these ornaments.

-----+-----

We hope you are enjoying our series paying homage to Bijou and his Bijouisms.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more fun ways to illuminate and display Bijou tiles at this festive time of year.

See our website for more information on Bijou tiles and frames (limited frames available).

-----+-----

We will again send out a Bijou gift to a few lucky tanglers who have written one of these great comments on today's blog.

Yesterday's winners are

• Victoria Melbin 
• Phyllis C. 
• Lorna Aaronson

AND (so sorry!!), the winners from the "Doing the dishes" blog are

• Heather Jackson 
• Libby Gilpatric 
• "Weaver Chick" 

Thanks all!

Winners please send us your snail mail address to zentangle@gmail.com to receive your gifts.

 Rick, Maria, Molly and of course, Bijou

On the first day of Christmas, Bijou gave to me . . .

 
. . . an ornament for my Christmas tree.

ADMIRE
verb: to regard with wonder, pleasure, or approval.

Ahhh. One of the best parts about creating Zentangle art is taking the time to admire and appreciate our own work. Bijou even suggests doing this while you are tangling your tile as well as when you finish.

So, enjoy your work as it evolves and then, sit back and admire it again when you feel it is done. Stretch your arm out with tile in hand, turning it this way and that to view it at different perspectives. See how your strokes come together to create something you had not imagined – something new and amazing.

And don't forget to admire others' works, taking the time to point out the parts you particularly like. "Just how did you do that version of hollibaugh?" It is so fun to see other artists' eyes light up when you admire their art. What an easy gift to give someone!

In the rush of a busy day, it's easy to forget to take a moment to admire something . . . particularly something you created. Bijou reminds us not to forget this important part of life.

FOCUS
"Focus" is both an action and a result of practicing the Zentangle Method. Bijou reminds us how creating Zentangle art and focus go hand-in-hand.

Setting aside even a little time for your Zentangle practice will allow more focus into your life. All the chaos going on in your head seems to fade into the background. Zentangle does not make the chaos go away, but it does give you a chance to take a rest from it. And, it gives you the focus that helps you to work through it.

Learn more about Bijou, our dear friend and adviser, at zentangle.com/bijou.

Molly created this cool ornament by assembling six 2" squares of chipboard into a cube. She attached a string to hang it and then covered it with black duct tape. Using double-sided tape, she then attached four completed Bijou tiles and two Bijouisms to the cube.

Et voila . . . an ornament for your tree, window, chandelier, or wherever your heart desires . . . to be an admired object of focus throughout the coming year(s)!

-----+-----

What a nice time of year to take some time to have another look at some of the wonderful "zentiments" and philosophies that our friend Bijou has brought to light in what we call Bijouisms. Join us for these 12 days as we look at some of them, get re-inspired and create something fun with them.

We will randomly choose one name from our list of commenters to send a bunch of Bijou stuff to have your way with!

Join us tomorrow for Day 2!

Many thanks,

Rick, Maria, Molly, et Bijou!

Doing the dishes

It is always fun (for me, anyway) to find new homes for my Zentangle tiles. I like them gathered around us in and about the house, not safely tucked away in a book or drawer. They seem to take on a function, a reminder of all good things. I like to just stick them on the walls with architectural putty (also called blue tack or white tack). I use this silly putty-esque feeling semi-sticky mounting stuff all the time, to keep dishes from sliding, to keep pictures hanging straight. I also use it to stick tiles right on the wall, be it plaster, wood or wallpaper. Some days I stick tiles to the corners of framed art or mirrors or wedge them between mandolin strings, the tines of an especially exotic fork. With  Zendala tiles, I love to use the putty to stick them to . . .

. . . dishes!

What a fun way to spend a quiet Saturday afternoon, wandering the aisles of no-name antique shops, second-hand bazaars and the like.

I even like to buy ones that have nicks and chips, because I know how they can be rescued by the mighty pen, wielded in Zentangle fashion, adorning it with tangles and . . . zen.

And, whilst you are out and about in these shops, you can also look for the tiny and wonderful miniature easels, to "pedestal" your new found work of art in a more regal fashion. If the plate is of the plain variety, old and yellowing or crackled ever so, you might add a border tangle around where the plate dips into the center.

A pre-strung plate! Use a Sakura® IDentiPen™ or even better, Sakura Microperm™. You can add perfs all around, then maybe an aura around them. This creates a classic border the likes of which you normally see on the edge of a gilt frame. The easels, you can also find online. (They are not as easily found as orphaned china.)

And, I was able to give one of the tiles a "hand." All us old artists, were certain to have been given these wooden "structures" to practice drawing (wooden?) hands.

You may have some great ideas of your own for presenting your tiles about your house. Tell us about them in your comments. And we will send goodies to a few randomly chosen commenters.

-----+-----

The winners from our last blog post, Walk on the Wild Side, are (drumrollllllll):

ANOESKA

LIANNE

CHRISTINE GARROTT

Please send your snail mail address to zentangle(at)gmail(dot)com and we will send you something special.

R&M

Walk on the wild side!

Maria writes:
My habit, when I begin to tangle, is to grab a square white tile; maybe once in a while, a blank white zendala. But I decided I would go over to the "other" side for a while and I got a stack of black Zentangle tiles. I wanted to really dive in head first and see what happens. At first, I began with simple strings on squares. Marking my corner dots, connecting them, drawing my string with a white charcoal pencil as I followed the basic Zentangle ceremony. Filled my sections with my go-to tangles, threw in a mac'n cheese tangle, and I let it draw me into its magic.

It did not take long for me to get hooked. I started to see opportunities not available to me when working on a white tile.

Like the original tile, the real magic appears when you add the shades of gray, but with black tiles, you also have the option of using a white chalk pencil or a Zenstone to add highlights and lighter tones. This added another dimension, not available when working on the white.

I then grabbed a new tool for working on black tiles – a gray Fabrico™ marker.  For years we offered this gray dual tipped marker for working on fabric (T-shirts, sneakers, aprons, etc.) when one would ordinarily use a pencil if it were paper. I began using the gray marker to shade the black tiles and it was spectacular. You almost don't even see it, except for the before and after tiles – it darkens the white lines but doesn't affect the black paper so much.

I love the subtle nuances it creates. AND you can make it darker and darker by adding another layer of the gray marker. OK, this is way more fun than I should be having . . . .
 

Also, I played with going over the white lines more than once. The first line of white can partially soak into the paper. But once it dries and you add that second stroke, it is brilliant! (in more ways than one) You could create stripes, only redrawing every other one, or going over the top half of each stripe, or adding a highlight here and there. The textures are lovely.

SO . . . you may want to take a little walk on the wild side, and dance with your Gelly Rolls®, try out those shades of gray, go find your ZenStone, wiggle some dust on those tiles, rough them up a bit.

Experiment with old tangles and new . . . monotangles and borders.

Zendalas, both strung . . .

 . . . and not.

Show your wild side. . . .

-----+-----

We will randomly pick some commenters to receive a tile as our way of saying, "Thank you," for commenting on our blog.

Many thanks,

R&M

P.S.

We designed an introductory Black Tile Tool Set just so people could try tangling on black Zentangle tiles.

-----+-----

Updated October 7, 2015, to add:

We originally uploaded this blog post at 6:37 pm EST.

Molly received an email from our friends at Sakura of America . . .

 . . . within seconds of the same time, telling her that they had just uploaded a YouTube of Molly teaching how to tangle munchin on black Zentangle tiles using materials from the Zentangle Black Tool Set that we developed with Sakura.

Molly did that video a while back and we had totally forgotten about it when we did this blog post. We love it when that happens!

Oh yes . . . Here's the video. Enjoy!

Winning a Marathon

Maria writes: 
​When Zentangle appeared to​ us in late 2003, we knew immediately that it was important. When we started telling people about it, they thought we were perhaps working too hard, or starting to lose a bit of our minds, but we kept right on spreading our story.

I knew the importance and comfort of creating, and Rick. . . well he usually knows everything, but he especially knew the impact of the relaxed focus of meditation. But how could we have foreseen the directions that Zentangle has taken all of us. I personally feel more confident, extremely content and open to new possibilities, besides for a bunch of other changes in my life.

Recently, we received the most beautiful and fascinating letter. It is from one of our Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT 16). I remembered Linda, and was happy to hear from her. We asked her if it was OK to share her story with all of you, and she graciously said yes.

Our gratitude to Linda and All of You who take the time and effort to tell us your heartwarming and moving stories.

Here is Linda's letter in its entirety.

The Story of One CZT's Marathon 8/28/2015

Hello. I’m Linda Dochter from CZT® “Sweet 16.” Friends call me “Doc.” Back around the time I was in Providence, I was in the habit of walking several miles around my neighborhood a couple times a week (unless there was a convenient excuse not to walk). Too rainy, too cold, too tired, too hot, too busy, too lazy, too boring, too this, too that. Then I had an unfortunate trauma accident that left me with a broken back – one that required extensive surgery and landed me in a brace and a wheelchair in a rehab hospital for awhile.

In rehab, physical therapists worked with me daily to get me back to walking again. After a period of working on strengthening and balance exercises, PT Jim took me into an unobstructed hallway outside of the gym and gave me a walker. My assignment: To walk as far as I could with the walker with Jim following with the wheelchair. When I reached my limit, I could sit down in the wheelchair. As I collapsed into the wheelchair, Jim asked, “How do you feel?” “Like I just ran a marathon,” I responded. PT Jim measured the distance I had covered as 30 feet – about the distance to walk around a car with a walker and some difficulty. PT Jim recorded a note on my chart.

The next day, PT Jim and I ended the therapy session in the gym back in the same hallway with the same walking assignment. Again Jim asked, “How do you feel?” “I’m training for a marathon,” I responded. PT Jim measured the new distance as 43 feet. I had made it around a slightly bigger car, again with a walker and with difficulty. “A new personal best,” I declared. Again, Jim took notes.

Then the germ of an idea sprouted. This really was like training for a marathon. Had I not been encouraging others in my fledgling Zentangle® business– “Anything is possible – One stroke at a time™.” Could one pen stroke represent one step? Put one foot in front of the other. Cover a short distance. Record the result. Put one foot in front of the other. Set a new personal best. Record the result. Just keep putting one foot in front on the other . . . Make forward progress. . . . One step at a time. Yeah. Anything is possible, one stroke at a time . . . Anything is possible, one step at a time.

Days later, I set a goal to walk a real marathon (26.219 miles). Not in one shot, mind you, but by counting all the bits and pieces of PT exercises, walking to and from PT sessions, walking here and there around the rehab hospital. I recorded any distance where I put one foot in front of the other and made forward progress. The rehab therapists cheered me on every day.

On an occasional afternoon, I held basic Zentangle classes for other patients from those who need occupational therapy for hand dexterity to individuals who were confined to bed with nothing else to do except watch daytime TV. My only teaching resources were an Apprentice Classroom Pack and a burning desire to encourage the discouraged to keep on trying – just one stroke at a time. Some ambulatory patients just came to watch the class. Since everyone in class was in a wheelchair, the mosaic became a “passing of the tiles” so everyone could appreciate the work of others. The change in the attitudes of my students and the onlookers from the start to the end of a session was palpable.

Four weeks after setting the goal to walk a marathon, I returned home from rehab and continued working with physical therapists in an outpatient program. I had almost completed the first mile of my goal.

August 28, 2015 marked the day when I returned to the gym in the rehab hospital to cross the ceremonial finish line of my marathon. Elasped time: 66 days. I was cheered on by the physical therapists that had cheered for me at the start. They told me that tiles left behind from the occupational therapy classes are still on display in the community lounge.

Now I walk because I’m grateful to be able to walk, armed with a story that “Anything is possible – One stroke at a time” as I make my way into the earlier_than_ expected retirement phase of my life . The Zentangle Method and occasional teaching assignments will surely be a part of my plan.

------+-----

Thank you to all who joined us on our revisit to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England. It was such a grand trip, if you have not read this blog post, please don't miss it!

We chose three names (at random) as so many of you made such great comments on the subject of tangle hunting in museums and other wonderful thoughts.

Roseanne V. Sabol

Carmen

Vikki Snider

Please send us your snail mail address so we can send you a gift from us.

Best from us both,

R&M